The British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host the Eighteenth Investment Treaty Forum Public Conference on May 11, 2012. The theme is: "Recent Developments in Investor-State Arbitration: Questions of Jurisdiction and Consent." The program is not yet available. Here's the idea:Recent developments in investor-State arbitration have highlighted once again the central role of consent in the establishment of arbitral jurisdiction. While consent remains a fundamental aspect of dispute resolution in public international law generally, its role is especially critical and complicated in investor-State arbitration where multiple treaties may intersect and the consent of multiple entities (State and individual) is involved.
This public meeting of the Investment Treaty Forum will examine the role of consent in the establishment of jurisdiction across three panels addressing problems and issues of importance and interest to practitioners, academics and government lawyers:
(1) Class Actions, Consent & Jurisdiction (looking at the issues raised by Abaclat v. Argentina among others);
(2) Counterclaims and Countermeasures (looking at the recent decisions in Roussalis v. Romania and Paushok v. Mongolia and the related issues raised when States assert countermeasures as a defense, as in Corn Products v. Mexico and ADM v. Mexico); and
(3) Competence de la Competance: Opting-out of Judicial Supervision of Jurisdictional Matters (looking at the issues raised in the recent set aside actions in BG Group v. Argentina (DC Ct. App. 2011) and Mexico v. Cargill (Ont. Ct. App. 2011)).
